The Final Stretch...Flight 93

The last and final stop on our journey before heading home was at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA.  It happened to be right on our way home, and given that we just paid tribute to the 9/11 survivors in NYC, we only felt it right to stop.

We didn't really know what to expect with the memorial, but Ryan and I assumed that we would maybe be there 30 minute - one hour tops.  Boy, were we wrong.  2 1/2 hours later....!

 The upper observation deck by the museum looks out over the crash site.  It has an amazing saying etched in the glass...

This memorial was VERY well done.  It too had a museum that gave a very similar (yet more condensed) version of the day's events like the 9/11 museum in NYC.  It also had the victim's pictures and backgrounds, it had the flight's path drawn out and where the plane was taken over by the terrorists.  It alsoand had actual voice recordings of messages left on answering machines by the passengers on the plane.  Talk about emotional.  I didn't make it through those without a few tears.

Outside, they had a trail to walk to the memorial, where each of the 40 passengers had their name engraved in a stone column.

The wooden gate in the background is the path the plane took that fateful day when it crashed into the Pennsylvania field.

The crash site is behind this stone wall and is marked only by a small boulder that marks the location of the plane's landing.  The site is closed off to the public - the only ones with access are the victim's families on special anniversaries.

The memorial site also has the Tower of Voices - it is a large structure that is still under construction. In its completion, it will have 40 bells attached that will sound with the wind.  It is meant to be a calm and relaxing structure where people can go to pay their respects to the brave, heroic 40 individuals who chose to fight back at the expense of their own lives in order to save countless others.

The Flight 93 Memorial was very well done, and one that is most definitely worthy of a visit if you ever happen to be driving across the middle of Pennsylvania.

And with that, our 10 day New England extravaganza is documented.  It's in the books.  It's one we will cherish for years to come.

Stop #4... The Big Apple

New York City was never initially in our plans when planning our New England trip.  That is until we realized that we were literally driving right through NYC on the way home.  So adopting the "When in Rome" philosophy once again, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to experience NYC - especially since it was a first for all four of us!

We stayed the night in Connecticut the night before and drove into the city in the morning (I've always wanted to say that).  Because our trip in NYC was just a day trip, we only had two things on our agenda:  The Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 memorial and museum.

First up was the ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty... 

 Once on the island, we explored Lady Liberty...

 

We had tickets to climb the pedestal of Lady Liberty and got to see her up close and personal...

This picture is a bit hard to tell what it is, but those are the bolts in the stairwell that are holding the Statue of Liberty in place.  Pretty crazy to think about really!

A view atop of the Statue of Liberty...

We toured the museum and saw a replica of Lady Liberty's foot.  Look how big that foot is compared to Sullivan!

The inside of the statue looks like this...

We said goodbye to Lady Liberty and boarded the ferry... 

The ferry stopped at Ellis Island, and while we would have loved to stop to explore we just didn't have time.  We had to settle for waving at it and taking a picture from the ferry...

Next up, we arrived in Battery Park where we explored the Clinton Castle and walked the streets of NYC... we saw the (replicated) Federal Hall where George Washington was inaugurated.

The Bible that George Washington used when he was sworn in...

The architecture of the buildings and hustle and bustle of the city was pretty exciting...

I loved this picture where you can see One World Trade Center in the center...

Next we made our way to the 9/11 Memorial, which was a juxtaposition from the rest of NYC.  The city is loud with people and cars, but the memorial had a calm and quiet that you can't even describe.  

It was refreshing to see that everyone was respectful and mindful, and that everyone took pause to remember all that lost their life on that tragic day.  

The white roses that are seen periodically are in remembrance of that person's birthday on that given day.  Each morning the roses are changed out, and new people are honored.  Such a simple, yet really neat way to honor the victims on their birthday.

We made our way inside to the museum.  And if you thought the memorial outside was quiet and calm, the museum was that times ten.  

The museum had a lot of artifacts from the collapsed building.  It had mementos left behind at Ground Zero. It had a great history and timeline of the events of that awful day.  

This is "the last column"... a structure taken from the South Tower.  It is adorned with memorials, and pictures, and was used to pay tribute to those who died on that fateful day. 

This is the Vessey staircase.   It has been named 'the survivor staircase'  because hundreds of people traveled these stairs while escaping the chaos on 9/11.  They were mostly intact after 9/11, but in the cleanup efforts after 9/11, they incurred significant damage.

But more than all those things, it had stories and pictures and backgrounds about every.single.victim of that tragedy - the victims in NYC, the victims at the Pentagon, the victims of Flight 93. I could have spent all night looking at the 2,900+ victims' faces, reading their stories, connecting with them.  I almost felt guilty for leaving without paying individual tribute to each and every one of them.  

This exhibit asked for no photography, but the rows and rows of victims' pictures was nothing short of profound.  

After a long and emotionally exhausting day, we navigated our way through the light rail system in NYC and headed to our car.  Next stop...home!

Goodbye, New York City.  We didn't get much time with you, but we promise to be back!!